I Am A Caucasian My Genomic Journey, An Odyssey of 7-Million Years An Illustrated Retrospective Research Manuscript Utilizing Archeological, Biblical, Biologic, Cartographic, Cultural, Genomic, Historic, & Linguistic Resources By Robert S. Sherins, MD Pacific Palisades, California, 2015 Copyright, Pacific Palisades, California 2015 About the Author Robert S. Sherins, M.D. Dr. Sherins graduated UCLA, AB Zoology, 1959 and attended the UCSF School of Medicine, receiving his Medical Degree in 1963. He completed his Internship at the Wadsworth Veterans Hospital in West Los Angeles in 1964 and served as a flight medical officer with the rank of Captain in the United States Air Force at the NATO airbase in Incirlik, Turkey, 1964 – 1966. Dr. Sherins completed his Ophthalmology residency at Wadsworth Veterans Hospital and the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, 1970. He was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1972 and served on the Clinical Attending Staff at the Jules Stein Eye Institute 1970 - 1984. He established a clinical practice of Ophthalmology in Santa Monica, California, and served on the medical staff of Saint John’s Health Center; served as Chairman of the Ophthalmology Section of the Department of Surgery from 1980 to 1986; and served in the Southern California Lions Eye Institute at Saint John’s Hospital from 1970 to 1997. He was president of the Bay Surgical Society, West Los Angeles, in 1985, and historian thereafter. Dr. Sherins is the founding chair and historian of the Saint John’s Physicians Alumni Association since 1997. Preface This manuscript was sub-entitled: “An Illustrated Retrospective Research Manuscript Utilizing Archeological, Biblical, Biologic, Cartographic, Cultural, Genomic, Historic, and Linguistic Resources,“ for the specific purpose of bringing to the reader’s attention the necessity of using many research categories and disciplines that would unite the complex prehistoric information. In so doing, I have outlined a journey of modern humans from prehistoric times when hominids have been discovered who were bipedal and walked upright. They evolved in Africa at least 7,000,000 years ago. With the scientific evidence from genetic research of the human genome, it is now possible to trace the evolution of the modern and prehistoric human species. Examination of the changes or mutations of the nucleotides, which join the 2 chains of DNA in each chromosome, made it possible to discover and link our human ancestors by genetic types, locations and to calculate the probable time of the appearance of those individuals. Clustering the DNA haplogroup types by comparing the geographic locations throughout the world of indigenous populations with the DNA evidence, created the opportunity to locate the ancestral journeys of modern humans. I have taken this opportunity to merge the evidence discovered from genomic research with the data learned from other scientific specialties to further explain our family history. Cross-connecting data from the various scientific disciplines has made it possible for this author to predict our probably and unique ancestral journey to the present time. Only the most recent history has been obtained from preserved archival documents. The overwhelming majority of our ancestral journey has been pre- historical. Without documents, the tale must be estimated based upon the best scientific evidence available. Surely new facts will emerge in time and the story will require updating. At this time, however, the story is both fascinating and compelling to the writer. Genomic evidence has confirmed that our ancestors passed through the Levant on their way to arriving at the Western Caspian region 100,000 to 80,000 years BCE. About 70,000 to 60,000 years later, our J2a-M10 genomic ancestors migrated from the Caucasus to the Levant. They appeared in the Levant about 4,000 to 3000 years BCE and later became members of one of the 12 Hebrew tribes. At the end of the 18th century in Russia, after centuries of anti-Semitism and economic difficulties, some of our ancestors and their relatives through marriage sought relief through Zionism and made their exodus to Israel. “Three times is a charm”, so the saying goes and here we descendants now are to be found in America, Europe and Israel. As described in a previous chapter of this manuscript, our Cherkinsky family migrated out of Africa about 100,000 to 80,000 years ago. Their genomic journey has been researched. With confidence, we can determine that our ancient ancestors migrated to the Western Caspian region about 80,000 to 60,000 years ago. Approximately 30,000 years ago, our ancestors Y-DNA haplogroup, “J” appeared for the first time in the Western Caspian area. About 15,000 years ago, descendants of the “J” ancestral male, produced offspring with the subclade genetic markers classified as “J2a.” Most recently, that genome was reclassified, “J2a-M410.” This subclade group lived predominantly in the Caucasus. Our M410 ancestors inhabited the Caucasus, and specifically Georgia and North Ossetia starting about 8,000 years ago. That era has been pinpointed as the early Neolithic agricultural revolution. The region is part of the “Fertile Crescent” – a region spanning the approximate borders of Anatolia and its neighbors, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus. As described elsewhere in this manuscript, our ancestors later migrated to the Levant. Utilizing archeological, cultural, geographic, genomic, historic and linguistic methods, I was able to locate when and where our ancestors next journeyed. They appeared in the Levant. This migration can be estimated with reasonable accuracy. Ancestors carrying the Y-DNA haplogroup “J” produced offspring with many subdivisions, whose migration pathways can be traced in the Middle East. In fact, they produced hundreds of mutational changes that have been categorized by their genomic analyses. They produced mutations that are found in Arabs, Armenians, Canaanites, Georgians, Hebrews, Kurds and Turks, among others. In our particular case, the genomic evidence demonstrated that our autosomal chromosomes are definitely found among those Hebrews who formed the 12-Tribes of Israel. We do no know yet from which tribe our ancestors may have originated. The timing occurred after the formation of the Land of Canaan and subsequently the Hebrew tribes, as written in the Bible‘s Book of Kings. Tribes have been described in the Land of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt led by Moses, (circa 1,280 BCE). Our Cherkinsky autosomal genome further demonstrated that about 20% of the genes also are found among the Arab Bedouins. The presence of both ethnic groups suggests that the origin of our autosomal genome most likely arose before those religious-ethnic groups formed. Therefore, we can assume that the ancestors carrying J2a-M410 arrived or appeared in the Levant during the time of the Canaanites. This could have appeared before the time of appearance of the Patriarch, Abraham (circa 1850 BCE). Abraham was born in the town of Şanli Urfa, in close proximity to the town of Harran that has been so well described during Abraham’s journeys that were written in the Bible. Perhaps our ancestors appeared in the Levant about 3,000-4,000 years BCE. Linguistic information has been extremely helpful in determining the further migratory directions of our J2a-M410 ancestors. Let us examine the language origins in the Middle East. The earliest of those languages has been classified as a “Proto-Semitic” language. Derivatives of the Proto-Semitic languages have evolved and dialects and derivative languages emerged in a variety of geographic areas in the Middle East. As an excellent example, one of my cousins, who descended from my grandmother’s family, instead of from my grandfather’s lineage as I did, carries the Y-DNA haplogroup subclade, “J1.” We have a common ancestor, “J” whose group appeared in the Western Caspian region approximately 30,000 years ago. The “J1” subclade group also appeared in the Caucasus a few thousand years before “J2a”. Our genomic pathways are close, but NOT exact. Genomic data show that the region of Bagdad and Babylon has a majority of “J1” carrying males in their population. That region was a center in the development of the “Archaic-Semitic” language. Aramaic language appeared in this region. However, the descendants of that region migrated to the desserts of Arabia and settled mostly in the southerly region of the peninsula, Yemen and Oman. The inhabitants of Yemen and Oman speak a minor dialect of Arabic not spoken elsewhere. On the other hand, the Northwest region of Syria and Lebanon is associated with the appearance of the Archaic or Proto-Semitic language. Hebrew appeared in that location as an alternative to Aramaic. Therefore, Hebrew is not a derivative language of Aramaic, but rather a derivative of the archaic, Proto-Semitic language. It is in this vicinity of the Northwest that J2a subclade is most apparent. Modern Hebrew evolved there, as well as the modern Arabic. Both of those languages have continued to be spoken in modern times. We can estimate that our ancestors settled in the Northwest Levant, prior to the appearance of the Hebrew tribes approximately 4,000 to 3,000 years BCE. Robert S. Sherins, MD Foreword Robert S. Sherins, MD “In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage – to know who we are and where we came from. Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life, there is still a vacuum, an emptiness, and the most disquieting loneliness.” (Alex Haley – 1976). n 1979, “Haley, Alex published “Roots: The Next Generations,” which generated huge public interest and record-setting attention to the details of Iresearching family history. The novel and television mini-series also set into motion keen public interest in genealogy. By the 1990s, ancestral research became one of the most prominent hobbies in America.